Just got back from the July 4th race weekend at Barber with Wera. Had a great time and the weather was perfect, albeit it was hotter then hell! This was my 2nd weekend on the R6 and I am even more in love with the bike. In Saturday's Superstock Novice race, I started 10th and ended up getting 2nd place on last lap! I was a solid 3rd place bike, but the leader ran out of fuel on last lap and coasted to checker flag. This was most likely due to a red flag we had. I ran a 1.36 in this race. I battled hard with another rider and it was a blast! Sean Hopkins, if you ever read this, I had an awesome time racing with you this weekend and hope to run with you soon again! I was on the 196. Also, hats off to Tony Mcknight and Nick Patenaude. Yall were killing it! You guys help bring the best out of us! In the Superbike race I ended up starting 7th and finished 3rd. Made a last corner, last lap pass for the last podium spot. Very intense and exciting race from start to finish! Got down to a PB time of 1.35. Looking to get to the 33's before end of year. Sunday races were not so good for me. Superstock race I was running in 2nd but on lap 2 I saw the black flag. Thought it was someone else but then on lap 3, it was obvious they were pointing at me. I ended up having to come in for a stop and go due to a jump start. I watched a video and I did roll a couple inches right before the green flag waved. I was letting clutch out to find grab point and learned my lesson. Wont happen again! With the penalty in superstock race I ended up 10th. Then in Superbike race, I had a good start and was making a pass for 2nd on outside of rider and got a little greedy with throttle and lowsided in Charlotte's web. This was a huge mistake on my part. I should have followed and patiently waited for a better opportunity as this was only lap 2. Bike was 100% fine somehow. Only clip on and peg had some rash and didnt even bend a part, nor touch the tank! Ended up making a couple more laps but was black flagged again because you have to re-tech if bars touch ground. Once I pulled in I just called it a weekend. All in all I had a blast and my buddy got his first podium today on his R6! Learned a ton about my bike, my riding, suspension setup, and tire wear! Took lots of notes and feel confident going into the GNF at end of this year. Definitely need to work on my physical conditioning as my legs were jello today haha. Gotta get back in gym to help with rider fatigue. If anyone reads this that was in my races, I just wanna say, awesome racing with you boys! Hoping to make Roebling in a couple weeks for an endurance race and will be at Road ATL and GNF for sure. Sorry to make yall read this novel... Hoping it gets other riders excited to get into racing and find their potential! If anything else, you will at least make new friends and find the paddock is like a big happy family!
